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(N0 ModeL) A. G. HOL'COMBE.

AUTOMATIC RESPONDINC INSTRUMENT I'OR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS.

Patented June 9, 1885.

N. PETERS, Pholo-Lllhngrlphur. Wnhingtnn, n. c.

Urvrrn Tarts ALFRED G, HOLOOMBE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THEEQUITABLE ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC RESPONDlNG-INSTRUMENT FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS- SPECIFICATIONforming partof Letters Patent N0.319,7l8, dated June 9, 1885.

Application filed August 7, 1884.

1884,) of which the following is a specification. This inventionconsists of certain improvements in the art of electrical communication,whereby a person calling up a distant station or subscriber isautomatically notified whether any one is there present to receive hismes- 1 sage, or to be put in communication with another station orsubscriber, or is notified of the time when said called station will beattended or ready to receive messages if the attendant be; absent, thussaving considerable time to the operator making the call, as he willrefrain from continually renewing the call, as he now does, if it is notimmediately responded to, and will wait until the time indicated beforehe again calls up said station or subscriber.

In this application I have described and claimed the means for carryingout my inventionyand a division of this application embraces adescription of the principle and a claim covering the method ofoperation. To

accomplish this desirable result, I arrange in close proximity to thecall apparatus or bell an automatic responding-instrument operated bymeans of a spring or other motor and locked 3 5 or prevented from actingby the armature or other moving part of the call apparatus or bell whenthe same is inoperative or in its normal position. The call apparatusand responding-instrument may be contained in one 0 case. This automaticresponding-instrument is constructed to pass to line currents inducedfrom the action of an independent battery in certain predeterminedimpulses upon the call apparatus or bell being actuated fromthe call- 5ing-station, which actuation of this calling apparatus or bell releasesthe responding-instrument, which is immediately operated by the motor,and so sends the predetermined signal to the calling-station. Theseautomatic re;

sponding-signals may be of any arbitrary charwhich- (No model.) Patentedin England August 517, 1884, No. 11,715.

'acter, the instrument being so constructed that one or more may beused, according to theposition of an indicator or pointer, which is setat a point, so as to cause the instrument to render the desired signal,bytheattendant before he leaves his instrument; but I have adopted asthe most useful a set of time-signals, given by means of a disk havingtwelve notches, over which a contact-brush passes, and a mutilated plaindisk or shield plate connected to and moving with the pointer, so as tocover thetwelve notches when the pointer is at zero or the In mark,-thus providing a continuous surface for the contact-brush to pass overwithout making any breaks; or a few notches close together are uncoveredwhen the insulated disk covers the whole of the twelve hour-indicatingnotches, so that a few quick impulses are sent over the line to thecalling-station, indicating to the attendant that some one is present atthe called station. When the pointer is set opposite any one of thenumbers on the dial of the instrument, a corresponding number of thenotches are exposed, and the contact-brush makes the same number ofbreaksin passing over them, which number of breaks or induction impulsesare sent over the line, and, actuating a suitable receiving-instrument,will notify the attendant at the calling-station of the timesome onewill beprescut to receive the message or be put in communicationwithanother subscriber. When the armature or moving part of the callapparatus or bell is in its normal position, and the automaticresponding-instrument locked thereby, 8 its connecting brush rests on aninsulated plate,'so as to break the circuit of the battery, whosecurrent passes through said instrument when it is in operation. Thisbattery, when the responding-instrument is applied to telephoniccircuits, may be the one used with the telephonic transmitter, or be anindependent battery or other source of electrical energy.

It is'evident that this automatic respondinginstrument is well adaptedto be used with electrical systems other than telephonic, as will beclearly seen from its construction and operation, as set forth in thefollowing description of the accompanying drawings, i

.urcs on the plate a.

Figure 1 is an elevation of my automatic responding-instrument with thefront of the case removed. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on theline a: a. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line y y. Fig. 4 is afront view of the same on a smaller scale, showing the manner in whichit is connected and applied to return signals over an electric circuit;and Fig. 5 shows its application to a telephonic circuit.

The working parts of the responding-instrument and the electro-magneticdevice of the call apparatus are shown inclosed in the case a, the frontof which is provided with a plate, a, marked with the word In, andfigures from 1 to 12 arranged in a semicircle; At the cen-' ter of thissemicircle projects the end of the shaft b, having secured thereto theindex or pointer b and knob N, by which the pointer may be set oppositeany of the marks or fig- Secured to the inner end of the shaft b is theshield-plateoi' mutilated disk 0, between which and the front of thecase a, securely fastened to the front of the case, is themetal disk d,having twelve equidistant teeth or notches, d, formed in the upper halfof its periphery, and a number of much finer teeth or notches, d,occupying a space equal to one of the teeth (1 and adjacent to the firsttooth of the series.- A block of insulating material, 6, is fixed in thelower central part of the disk d.

f represents a clock-movement or springmotor, the last spindle, f, ofwhich is in line with the axis of the shaft b, and carries on its end,in close proximity to the shield-plate 0,-the

wheel or disk g, provided with escapementteeth on its periphery, whichactuate the retarding escapement g. This escapement g has-a tail-pieceand adjustable weight, g, by the adjustment of which the speed of thewheel 9 may be regulated. This wheel 9 has secured to it thecontact-brush h; which travels over the teeth d and shield-plate 0 whenthe wheel revolves, but rests on the insulatingblock 0 when the wheel 9is in its normal posotion and at rest, in which position it is retainedby the pin h coming in contact with the arm 13, secured to the shaftwhich carries the armature z" of the electromagnetic device ofthe callapparatus. The call-bell i is attache 'to the outside of the case, andis struck by the hammer 43, projecting from the arma ture i, when thearmature is attracted by the electro-magnet j, having its corespolarized by the permanent magnet j.

Z represents the spring of the motor, and l the handle by which it iswound up.

The arrangement of this instrument in its simplest application is asfollows, reference being also had to Fig. 4: The line-wire m joins oneend of the wire on the magnet j,*the other end,m, of the magnet-wiregoing to earth, and including in it the secondary coil m" of aninductorium, n. The primary coil n of this inductorium is in circuitwith the battery h and the automatic responding-instrument, which Inmark, as shown at Fig. 4.

is connected by the wire n from the battery, beingjoined to the frame ofthe spring-motor f, so as to bring the contact-brush h in the circuit,and, by the wire n, connecting the primary coil n to the notchedsignal-disk d.

The operation is as follows: Upon a current being sent through theline-wire m to actuate the call apparatus, the. magnet j attracts thearmature i, which draws the arm 01 away from the stop-pin h, allowingthe spring-motor to work, and thereby carrying the brush h around thedisk (1. The battery-current flows upon the brush h, leaving theinsulated block e, and is broken each time the brush passes over the byinducing corresponding electrical impulses in the coil m which arereceived and actuate any suitable receiving-instrument, as a telephonicreceiver, m (shown in Fig. 5,) at the sending-end of the line. As soonas the callcurrent' ceases, thespring a" moves the armature 'i away fromthe magnet j in the position shown, and the wheel 9 is stopped aftermaking one full revolution with the brush h resting on the insulatedblock e, thereby breaking the battery-circuit. Should this currentinduced in the coil m actuate the armature i, it will only cause theresponding signal to be also given by this call apparatus. N ow, supposethe attendant of any given station has to leave his post and will returnthereto at any hour, say six oclock, he sets the pointer b opposite thefigure 6, which leaves six of the teeth d exposed, as shown at Figs. 1,2, 3, and 5, so that when this station is called,six distinct electricalimpulses are automatically returned to the calling-station, indicatingthe time when said called station will be served.- If the attendant bepresent, he sets the pointer to the This causes the shield-plate c tocover the whole of the twelve teeth d, but exposes the set of fine teethd,- the brush it, in passing over which, sends a few quick impulses overthe line, indicating that some one is present. These teeth d are coveredby the shield-plate a when one of the teeth at is exposed, and remaincovered during the exposure of any or all of the said teeth d.

It is evident that until the spring of the motor is exhausted theinstrument will repeat a. signal as often as the releasing-magnet isactuated, and that instead of time signals the disk d may be made togive any predetermined signal or set of signals, according to therequirements of the case and the class of electrical circuit theautomatic responding instrun'1e'nt is applied to. q

. In the application of my automatic responding-instrument to telephoniccircuits the connections may be made, as shownat Fig. 5, to cause thesame to properly operate with the other instruments or devices used inthe sys- ,tem; but said instrument will operate in the manner justdescribed, as shown at Fig. 4, and the parts of the circuit at Fig. 5corresponding thereto are similarly designated, so that notches or teethd d, which are exposed, there- IIO the functions performed thereby maybe readily traced out and understood. The inductorium n and the batteryn, used in conjunction with the automatic responding instrument, also'form part of the telephonic transmission device, of which o'representsa microphonic transmitter, connected by the wire 0 to the wire of, andby the wires 0 0 and spring contact-switch 0 to the coil n, whichcompletes the circuit of the microphone 0, the primary coil 02 of theinductorium,'and the battery a when the switch 0 is closed." Theline-wire m has included in it the switch 1", which is closed by one endof the lever s when thetelephonic receiver is suspended from a hook onits other end. This telephonic receiver t is joined to line-wire mthrough the wire 15, s'pringt, which makes contact with the lever s whenthe telephone is removed therefrom, said telephone being connected tothe lever s by the wire 1?, and to earth through the wire in by means ofthe wire't. The spring t is provided on its under side with theinsulated block 8, which closes the spring-switch 0 when the levers isreleased. it represents a magneto-machine for calling up another stationfrom this end of the line. It is out of circuit, except when the switcha is moved onto the contact-point a"; and t represents a magneto orother generator at the callingstation, by means of which the callapparatus t'j is operated; and m is a-telephonic receiving-instrument,by means of which messages and the automatic responding-signals arereceived at the calling-station.

The various parts occupying the positions shown in the drawings, acurrent or currents sent over line at from the generator 1) actuates thecall apparatus 2' j,which allows the current from the battery n to passthrough the automatic responding-instrument and send a return-signal tothe receiver m in the manner before described, the telephonet andmicrophonic transmitter 0 now being out of circuit and inoperative.\Vhen a communication is to be sent from or received at this station,thereceiver 25 is removed from the lever s, which, being actuated by thespring 8 cuts out the call apparatus tj, throws the receiver tinto thecircuit and the microphone 0 into the battery n and primary coil or intocircuit. The responding-instrument is now also out of circuit by reasonof its contact-brush h resting on the insulated block 6, from whichposition it cannot be disturbed until the call apparatus is again incircuit and operated as before described.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. The combination,with an electro-magnet having a movable armature andcall-bell oparmature of the call-bell when the call-bell is actuated,substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 2. The combinatiomwith'the secondarycoil of aninductorium, an electric circuit, and acall-apparatus, of an automatic return-signal instrument, a' lockingdevice in the returnsignal instrument and actuated by the,callapparatus, the primary ,coil of the inducto rium, a battery, and a localcircuit, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination, an induetorium, a battery, andanautomaticresponding-instrument provided with asignaling deviceandconnected motor included in a local circuit, a call or bell apparatusconstructed, when at rest, to lock the signaling device of therespondinginstrument, and means for operating the callbell, and thesecondary coilof the inducto-. rium included intheline-circuit,substantially as and for the purpose set forth. v

4. In a telephonic system, a microphonic transmitter, a switch, theprimary coil of an induetorium,:md a battery in an independent circuit,in combination with the signaling device or contactspring and disk of anautomatic responding-instrument, having abreakwheel located in a branchstarting from a point between the microphonic transmitter and thebattery and between the switch and the primary coil of the induetorium,said branch being normally opened at the break-wheel, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

5. In an automatic responding-instrument, in. combination, a fixed diskor plate having a series of teeth or notches representing differentsignals and an insulated block on its periphery, a contact-brush carriedby arotating shaft concentric with the disk, a motor for impartingmotion to said brush, and a lock ing device for holding the brushstationary on the insulated block and actuated by an electric current toallow the brush to be rotated by the motor, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

6. In an automatic responding-instrument, in combination, a fixed diskor plate having a series of notches or teeth, a shield-plate arrangedconcentrically with the fixed disk and connected to and operated by anindex-pointer, a dial-plate having marked thereon the signals theinstrument is adapted to give, and a contact-brush carried by a wheel ordisk whose axis is coincident with that of the shield-plate and fixeddisk, and motor for causing the contact-brush to travel around the fixeddisk or plate, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In combination, a bat-tery, the primary coil of an induetorium, thesignaling device of an automatic responding-instrument constructed to beoperated by means of a motor to indicate by inductive action in thelinecircuit any of a set of predetermined impulses, areceiving-instrument, a call apparatus constructed to lock the automaticresponding-instrument, the secondary coil of the inducto- ICO rium, anda current-generator included in the line-circuit, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

8. In combination, the responding-instrument constructed and operatedsubstantially as described, the battery n the primary coil n of theinductorium n, the line-wire m, the

call apparatus 1 j, adapted to lock the responding-instrument,theline-wire m, the secondary coil m of the inductorium n, and thereceiv jug-instrument m and electrical generator, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

9. In combination, the automatic responding-instrument composed of thedisk (I, insulated block 6, contact-brush 71, carried by and forming apart of the motor f, the battery n, the connecting-circuit n n, and theprimary coil n of the inductorium ofatelephonic transmitter,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

10. Atelephonic system comprising the following instrumentalities: thecall apparatus '5 j, spring-switches r 13 lever 8, receiver t, and thesecondary coil m of the inductorium n included in the line-circuit, themicrophonic transmitter 0, battery n automatic responding-instrument d eh f, the switch 0, and pri-,

mary coil n of the inductorium included in a local circuit, incombination, substantially as set forth.

11. In an automatic responding-instrument for electric circuits, incombination, the springmotor f, the contact-brush h, the fixed disk d,provided with the teeth (2, the insulated block 6, the circuit-wire of,connected to the motor :for electric circuits, in combination, the fixedof the fixed disk d, and shield plate e, substan.

tially as set forth.

13. In an automatic responding-instrument for electric circuits, incombinatiomthe wheel 9 of a motor, the'contact brush h, the stop-pin h,the arm 1' of the armature i of an electromagnetic device, theadjustable shield-plate c,

the fixed toothed disk d, and the insulatingblock 6, substantially asset forth. 14. In an automatic responding-instrument disk d, providedwith the series of teeth d" and the series of small teeth d, therotating brush h, the insulated'block'c, and the shield-- plate 0,adapted to cover all the teeth (1 and leave the teeth d exposed, and toexpose one or more of the teeth d and at the same time cover the teethd, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 5th day of August, A. D. 1884.

ALFRED G. HOLOOMBE.

Witnesses:

' J. M. PENDLETON,

JOSEPH A. CUTTER.

